Article feeding and printing apparatus



Sept. 1963 P. w. SAWTELLE 3, 03,166

ARTICLE FEEDING AND PRINTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 8. 1961 Sept. 10, 1963 F. w. SAWTELLE 3,103,166

ARTICLE FEEDING AND PRINTING APPARATUS Filed March 8, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllll As shown in FIGS. 1-4 the apparatus of the preferred embodiment of the invention is mounted on a base ill and includes a drive motor 12 which drives the article feeding apparatus and the printing mechanism through a set of sheaves l4, l6, drive belt 18 and a speed reducer mechanism 2%. The output shaft of the speed reducer mechanism drives chain belts 22 and 24 which rotate a cross shaft 26 (best seen in FlG. 4) which drives both a printing mechanism generally indicated at 23 and a feeding apparatus generally indicated at 3%. The printing mechanism and feeding apparatus are mounted as a unit for pivoting movement about the shafts 32 supported from studs 34 upstanding from base Jill. A sprocket driven by chain .22 and a sprocket which drives chain 24 are secured to a shaft positioned on the axis of stub shafts 32. The support for the feeding and printing unit includes a base member 36 which is secured at one side to the upstanding studs 34 and may be angularly adjusted about the stub shafts 32 by means of the hand crank 49 (FIG. 3) which acts through a set of gears 42, i -i to rotate the link 46 on the threaded shafts 43. The shaft 58 is pivotally secured to the fixed base lll by connection 50 and its upper portion 49 passes through the adjustable base 36. Thus the angle of inclination of both the feeding apparatus and the article printing apparatus may be easily varied as a unit as desired in accordance with the nature of the articles being printed.

The feeding apparatus 3d includes a cylindrical wall structure 52 supported by upstanding bracket members 54 and a feeding disc 56 which is clamped down on flange 57 secured to the end of drive shaft 58 The disc 56 is held on the flange 57 by means of a flat plate 59 (FIG. 8) and nut 68 which cooperates with a threaded extension 61 of flange 57. Three leveling screws 62 provide an adjustment which insures that the feed disc 56 may rotate in a plane without wobble, and a locating pin 63 engages the disc to assist in positioning and drive of the disc. The disc drive shaft 53 is mounted within housing 64- and is driven by a gear 65 (which meshes with a cooperating gear 66 that is mounted on the shaft 26 driven by the chain belt 24).

The printing apparatus 28 is also mounted on the tilting plate structure 36 and is tilted with the feeding apparatus 36 by the operation of the hand wheel 40. The printing structure is supported on a set of outwardly extending ways which permit the printing unit to be moved inwardly and outwardly by rotation of the hand wheel 67 (FIG. 3) which rotates a threaded shaft 68 (secured to the printing unit) that cooperates with a threaded channel 69 on the block 70 mounted on support plate 36. The printing unit drive includes a square shaft '71 which normally engages a cooperating slot in one member of universal joint 72 (driven by shaft 26). Driven by the square shaft 7x1 is a gear train which commences with gear 73. As is indicated in FIG. 4 (by dotted lines) the printing unit may be moved laterally outward along the ways until shaft 63 no longer engages channel 69 at which time the printing unit may be slid entirely off the ways. A Vernier adjustment associated with shaft 63 enables fine lateral positioning of the printing unit.

Thus both the printing apparatus 28 and the feeding structure 34} are mounted as a single unit and are driven in coordinated manner by the one drive motor 14-. Drive speed adjustment is provided by the hand wheel '74 which cooperates with threaded shaft 76 and block 78 on which the motor is mounted to move the motor 12 laterally with corresponding adjustment in the effective diameters of sheaves 14 and/or 16. Positive drives (gears or chains) insure the maintenance of the desired relation between the feed disc 56 and the printing mechanism 28.

A top view of the apparatus taken of the plane of the disc 56 is shown in H6. 4. The disc is manufactured from hard rubber or other similar material having a degree of resilience so as to minimize damage to the articles being fed. The disc has in its periphery a multiplicity of evenly spaced notches or outwardly opening pockets 82. Two examples of types of discs that may be utilized are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. In FIG. 5 the pockets 82 are elongated and adapted to receive capsules 34. In FIG. 6 they are shown as semi-cylindrical pockets for receiving tablets 86. It will be noted that the notch cornorrns closely with the shape of the article to be fed by the disc. Gther pocket configurations may of course be employed so that the various other types of small articles may be received and fed by the apparatus of the invention.

The structure surrounding the disc includes an upstanding cylindrical wall portion 9% and inwardly extending floor portion 92. Connecting these two surface portions as shown in FIG. 7 is an inclined surface 94- which is preferably disposed at an angle of about 45. The surfaces adjacent the disc are chromium plated and have a high polish so that friction, and possible damage to the articles being fed, is minimized. The inwardly extending floor portion 92 supports the articles when they are positioned in the notches 82 and they slide on this floor portion as they are advanced by the disc to the printing station. Depending on the speed of rotation of the disc the articles carried in the notches are exposed to a degree of centrifugal force which tends to urge them outwardly toward the cylindrical wall portion W such that they tend to ride up the inclined surface portion 94. This reaction however is opposed by gravity which aids in maintaining the articles in the notches for proper feeding. A hopper wall extension d5, clamped to the wall portion 90, increases the effective size of the hopper so that more articles may be placed therein-at one time for feeding.

The hopper structure in normal operation is tilted at an angle of 15-45", preferably between 22 to 36 with respect to the iorizontal, with the lowest portion thereof to the left as shown in FIG. 4. The hopper structure is arranged to hold a multiplicity of articles for feeding and the disc is driven in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4. Elongated articles are aligned with the pockets under the influence of the discs rotation and drop into them to be carried upwardly and around the hopper edge to the printing apparatus 2-8. A scoop structure 96 (FIGS. 2 and 4) is secured to the wall adjacent the end of the hopper extension by clamp means 3"). This scoop has a lower edge positioned just above the top of the disc 56 and outwardly of the notches 82 and rises gradually to a height above the disc. Articles which lie to the outside of the disc but are carried thereby (in engagement with an article in a notch for example) hit the scoop and ride upwardly and then are dropped from sufficient height so that they roll across the disc surface and are returned to the common mass of articles. At the upper portion of the hopper there is mounted on the surrounding wall structure 9%) two air jet structures 98, 99, each of which has an orifice res positioned to direct an air flow inwardly across the surface of the disc as indicated in FIG. 7. These air jet structures are secured by means of a clamp ltll and bolt 102 to the upstanding wall portion iti of the cylindrical hopper structure 52 As the disc 5s rotates and carries articles past these jets any article that is riding on another article or on the bridge between notches is forced inwardly away from the disc periphery and down to the common mass of articles in the hopper. In this manner it is insured that improperly positioned articles are not carried to the printing unit by the disc.

Another air nozzle 194- is positioned between the two jets 98 and 99 and has an orifice opening upwardly through the floor position 92 (see FIG. 8) and the air flow tends to force all the articles out of the pockets and up against the deflector 105, clamped on the wall 90, which deflects them inwardly for return to the common mass and they are not fed to the printing apparatus by the disc. This air jet 1% is turned on only when no articles are to be fed, for example, to give opportunity for inking the rolls, adjusting, etc. Each jet or nozzle is connected to a suitable source of air pressure through a conduit 106. It will be noted that an additional safeguard is provided at the downward feeding side of the disc in the form of a barrier plate 108 which is secured to the wall 90 and acts to deflect articles not positioned in the notches from the area of the printing apparatus 2 8.

In the feeding operation, the articles to be fed are loaded into the hopper and fall into the notches where they are held and advanced in proper aligned position as the disc rotates. They are moved upwardly toward the scoop 96 and the nozzle jets 98, 99 and any articles on the surface of the disc or not properly positioned in a notch tend to be forced inwardly across the surface of the disc. Finally, all articles on the surface of the discare prevented from moving toward the printing apparatus by the barrier member 108 positioned closely adjacent the surface of disc 56. Thus these several devices insure that only articles properly positioned in the notches 82 are fed to the printing apparatus 28.

The printing apparatus 28 (best shown in FIG. 9) comprises two printing mechanisms each of which includes an offset roll 1120, 122, an engraved roll 124, 12 6 and an ink fountain structure 128, 130 respectively. Each ink fountain is adapted to contain the ink or other printing medium and cooperates with the associated engraved roll to apply ink directly to depressions in the surface of that roll. The excess of ink is removed from the engraved roll by a blade 132 which is oscillated or otherwise reciprocated in conventional manner. An eccentric cam structure 134 dnives arm 136 to reciprocate the entire ink fountain structure as generally indicated in FIG. lll. Each engraved roll preferably includes an outside layer of chrome plated on copper and has depressions engraved in its surface in the form of the indicia that are to be printed on the articles. The ink applied from the fountain collects in these depressions with the excess being wiped off by the reciprocated blade 132. The offset roll, which may be manufactured from any of the rubber-like materials conventionally utilized for such rolls, is positioned in contact with the engraved roll. The ink configurations carried by the depressions are transferred to the offset roll and then from the offset roll to the articles in printing operations. The offset rolls are preferably tapered as shown in FIG. leaving a peripheral surface of sufficient width to receive the ink from the depressions in the engraved wheel while providing a greater degree of angular flexibility to accommodate slight differences in speed of the roll and the article contacted so that the ink configuration is not smeared. The sets of rolls are gear driven so that the possibility of relative slippage with consequent smearing of the ink during transfer operations is minimized. The axes of the two printing mechanisms may be adjusted with the top offset roll shaft moving along through the paths indicated by the groove 146 shown in dotted lines to adjust the space between them. An adjusting screw 142 controls the position of the spring loaded offset roll shaft 144.

As indicated in FIG. 10 each printing apparatus is supported on the upstanding wall 146 with each shaft passing through a bushing. Thus the shaft 148 of the offset roll passes through bushing 150 and the shaft 152 of the engraved roll 126 passes through the bushing 154. A gear .156, 158 respectively is mounted on each shaft and is seated on a shaft shoulder. A second gear 160 is mounted on shaft 152 and the gear or gears on each shaft are securely locked thereon by a washer 162 and a nut 164. The tightening of the nut 164 seats the gear on the shoulder portion of the shaft and secures it in the desired relation. A hex head portion 166 on each shaft between the bushing and the associated roll is provided to facilitate the angular adjustment of the roll. In this way the shaft and its roll easily may be rotated through a few degrees or a fraction thereof relative to the gear train and thus the relative positions of legends applied to each article by the two printing apparatuses may be easily adjusted. Each roll is secured on its shaft by a threaded disc 168 which is tightened down to secure the roll on the shaft by suitable means such as a spanner.

The gear train which drives the printing units is shown in FIG. 1. Both units are driven from the gear 73 which meshes with gear 170. That gear in turn drives with gear which is mounted on the shaft .152 of gravure roll 126. Also mounted on shaft 152, as indicated above, is gear 158 which meshes with and drives gear 156 mounted on the offset roll shaft 14 8. Gear 156 also drives gear 172 and through that gear the gravure roll gear 174 and the offset roll gear 176 of the other printing apparatus. Mounted on the same shaft as gear 172 is a gear 178 which cooperates with a gear 180 to rotate shaft 182 which in turn, through universal joint 1 84, drives the shaft 186. Mounted at the end of this shaft 186 is an eccentric cam 134- (as shown in FIG. 10) which reciprocates the ink fountain structure 130. A similar cam associated with shaft 1 82 reciprocates the ink fountain structure 128. Thus the two printing units are driven through a single gear train with the gearing engineered so that the peripheral speed of the gravure rolls is the same as the peripheral speed of the disc. In other words the ink configurations are transferred from two gravure rolls, moving at equal speeds, via offset rolls to an article that is moved by the feeding disc at the same speed as the offset rolls. The adjustment screw 142 for controlling the position of the top roll and thus the nip between the offset rolls acts to pivot shaft 144 of roll 149 about a center defined by the shaft of the associated gravure roll 1 24.

As may be seen in FIG. 9 the door portion 92 of the hopper structure is cut away in the immediate vicinity of the offset rolls so that the articles to be printed are slid by the disc 56 directly from the lip of the floor 92 into the nip between the offset rolls 120 and 122 and are advanced by the disc 128 past those offset rolls. All elements (the periphery of the disc 56, the peripheries of the two offset rolls 121), 122 and the articles) move at the same speed in that area so that accurate, unsmeared ink configurations as carried by the offset rolls are transferred to each article. After printing the article is discharged from the offset rolls and falls freely as indicated in FIG. 9 into a suitable receptacle.

The common drive arrangement coordinates the opera tion of the printing mechanism and the movement of the artciles past them. It will be obvious that the spacing of the engraved indicia on the gravure rolls 124, 126 should equal the spacing between pocket centers on the disc. Proper registration of the indicia printed on opposite sides of the article is thus insured. Adjustments of the positions of the two printed marks relative to one another may be made by freeing a nut 164 on a gravure roll shaft and turning the shaft via the associated hex head portion 166 slightly. In addition it will be noted that the apparatus permits easy changing of both the feeding disc for accommodating other shapes or sizes of articles and the gravure rolls to enable accurate high speed printing of the different types of articles. Other adjustment features include speed changing, hopper angle modification and lateral positioning of the printing unit (including the facility of removing the printing unit from the feeding unit entirely).

Thus it will be seen that the apparatus provides an improved feeding mechanism and printing apparatus particularly adapted for placing indicia on opposite surfaces on small articles. The feeding apparatus is a simple mechanism which is reliable in operation, is capable of easy modification to handle different articles and requires a minimum amount of maintenance. The printing apparatus enables application of legends to two surfaces of an article substantially simultaneously. It is particularly adapted for association with the feeding apparatus and is arranged so that the position of the printing structure may be easily adjusted to facilitate the changing of the feeding discs. Various modifications in the disclosed apparatus will be obvious to those skilled in the art. .For example, the apparatus may also be used with a single printing mechanism in which the lower lip portion 1% is extended beneath the location of the printing operation so that the notched disc moves the article supported on the rloor lip 1% past the single offset roll. Other types of drives, adjustments and article control means may be employed. Therefore, while there has been shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of the invention it will be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited thereto or to details thereof and departures may be made therefrom within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for placing indicia on small articles at a high rate of speed in a printing operation comprising a disc mounted for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the disc, a plurality of outwardly opening article receiving pockets in the periphery of said disc, said pockets being generally shapedto the configuration of the article to be printed so that the surface of the articles to be printed, when disposed in said pockets, are parallel to the surface of said disc, an article retaining structure surrounding said disc adapted to provide in conjunction with said disc a hopper for holding the articles to be printed, said retaining structure having an upstanding cylindrical wall portion immediately adjacent the periphery of said disc outwardly thereof and an inwardly extending floor portion positioned below said disc adapted to provide support for articles positioned in said pockets, an aperture in said floor portion through which said articles fall from said pockets, printing apparatus disposed adjacent said aperture for applying indicia to the articles carried by said disc, and means to rotate said disc to advance articles positioned in said disc pockets past said printing apparatus to have an indicium placed thereon in a printing operation, said printed article being ejected through said aperture after the printing operation is completed.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said article retaining structure includes an inclined surface portion connecting said cylindrical wall portion and said floor portion such that the tendency of the articles when carried in said pockets by said rotating disc to move outwardly under the influence of centrifugal force is opposed by gravitational force.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further including control means for preventing the feeding of an article improperly positioned in a pocket comprising a fluid jet structure mounted on said upstanding cylindrical wall portion above and outwardly of the periphery of said disc and having an orifice directed inwardly across and substantially parallel to the surface of said disc, said jet structure being arranged so that fluid ejected from said orifice urges articles not properly positioned in said pockets away from the periphery of said disc.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further including means for inhibiting the feeding of articles by said disc comprising a fluid jet structure positioned below the path of articles carried by said disc and having an orifice directed upwardly perpendicular to the plane of rotation of said disc arranged so that fluid ejected from said orifice acts to remove articles positioned in said pockets and to prevent the feeding of articles to said printing apparatus.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said printing apparatus includes offset printing means including an engraved wheel having a plurality of depressions adapted to re eive printing ink and an offset roll which transfers ink configurations from the depressions to the articles in a printing operation, said offset printing means being driven by said disc rotating means.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said printing apparatus includes first and second printing means, each of said printing means having an ink transfer device disposed adjacent said aperture on opposite sides of said disc, said transfer devices being adapted to place ink configurations on opposite surfaces of an article carried by a disc pocket substantially simultaneously as said article is moved past said transfer devices by said disc.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein each ink transfer device includes a .gravure roll and an offset roll, and further including gear train means driven by said disc rotating means including a driving gear associated with each gravure roll and each offset roll and means to rotatably adjust the gravure rolls without disengaging the gravure roll driving gear from the other gears with which it meshes to enable adjustment of the relative registration of the indicia placed on said articles in the printing operation.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 and further including means to move one of said offset rolls toward and away from the other offset roll for adjusting the nip between said offset rolls to accommodate articles of different dimensions.

9. Apparatus for placing indicia on small articles in a printing operation comprising a disc mounted for rotation about an axisperpendicular to the plane of the disc, a plurality of article receiving pockets in said disc, said pockets being generally shaped to the configuration of the article to be printed so that the surface of the article to be printed, when disposed in said pocket, is parallel to the surface or said disc, an article retaining structure associated with said disc adapted to provide in conjunction with said disc a hopper to hold the articles to be printed, said retaining structure having an upstanding cylindrical wall portion immediately adjacent the periphery of said disc outwardly thereof and an inwardly extending floor portion positioned below said disc adapted to provide support for articles positioned in said pockets, an aperture in said inwardly extending floor portion through which articles carried by said pockets may fall, printing apparatus disposed adjacent said aperture and in the path of articles carried in said pockets for applying indicia to the articles carried by said disc, and means to rotate said disc to advance articles positioned in said disc pockets past said printing apparatus, said printed article being ejected through said aperture after the printing operation is completed.

10. Apparatus for placing indicia on small articles in a printing operation comprising a flat disc of resilient material, said disc being mounted for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the disc and the plane of said disc being inclined at an angle to the horizontal between 15-45, a plurality of article receiving pockets in said disc, said pockets being generally shaped to the configuration of the article to be printed so that the surface of the article to be printed, when disposed in said pocket, is parallel to the surface of said disc, an article retaining structure associated with said disc adapted to provide in conjunction with said disc a hopper to hold the articles to be printed, said retaining structure having an upstanding cylindrical wall portion immediately adjacent the periphery of said disc outwardly thereof and an inwardly extending floor portion positioned below said disc adapted to provide support for articles positioned in said pockets, an aperture in said inwardly extending floor portion through which articles carried by said pockets may fall, printing apparatus disposed adjacent said aperture and in the path of articles carried in said pockets for applying indicia to the articles carried by said disc, and common drive means to rotate said disc to advance articles positioned in said disc pockets past said printing apparatus and to operate said printing apparatus for applying indicia to the articles 9 carried by said disc, said printed article being ejected through said aperture after the printing operation is completed.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said printing apparatus includes first and second printing means, each of said printing means having an ink transfer device disposed adjacent said aperture on opposite sides of said disc, said transfer devices being adapted to place ink configurations on :opposite surfiaces of an article carried by a disc pocket substantially simultaneously as said article is moved past said transfer devices by said disc.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein each ink transfer device includes a gravure roll and an offset roll, and further including gear train means driven by said disc rotating means including a driving gear associated with each gravure roll and each offset roll and means to rotatably adjust the gravure rolls without disengaging the gravure roll driving gear from the other gears with which it meshes to enable adjustment of the relative registration of the indicia placed on said articles in the printing operation.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12 and further including means to move one of said offset rolls toward and away from the other offset roll for adjusting the nip between said offset rolls to accommodate articles of different dimensions.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said common drive means includes a single shafit which drives a disc rotating gear train and a printing apparatus gear train and further including means to adjust the angle of inclination of said disc, said angle adjusting means adapted to be manipulated without adversely affecting the operation of said single drive shaft.

15. Apparatus for placing indicia on small articles at a high rate of speed in a printing operation comprising a rotatable shaft adjustably inclinable at an angle of 1545 to the vertical, a flat disc of resilient material removably mounted on said shaft for rotation in the plane of said disc, said disc having a plurality of outwardly opening article proceeding pockets in its periphery, said pockets being generally shaped to the configuration of the articles to be printed so that the surface of the articles printed, when disposed in said pockets, are aligned generally parallel to the plane of said disc, an article retaining structure surrounding said disc adapted to provide in conjunction with said disc a hopper for holding the articles to be printed, said retaining structure having an upstanding cylindrical wall portion positioned immediately adjacent the periphery of said disc, an inwardly extending floor portion positioned below said disc and adapted to provide support for articles positioned in said pockets, and an inclined surface portion connecting said cylindrical wall portion and said floor portion, an aperture in said floor portion through which articles carried by said pockets may fall, printing apparatus mounted adjacent said aperture comprising two rotary printing elements positioned in the paths of said pockets, one of said printing elements being disposed above the plane of said disc and the other printing element being disposed below the plane or said disc, said printing elements being spaced to permit the passage of an article carried in a disc pocket to pass between them so that ink configurations carried by said printing elements are transferred substantially simultaneously to opposite surfaces of an article carried by said disc, means for laterally adjusting the position of said printing apparatus toward and away from said rotatable shaft to facilitate the removal of said disc from said rotatable shaft and common drive means for rotating said disc to advance articles positioned in saiddisc pockets past said printing apparatus and for operating said printing apparatus to rotate said printing elements for applying indicia in the form of ink configurations to the articles carried by said disc. 16. Apparatus for placing indicia on small articles in a printing operation comp-rising a disc mounted for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the disc, a plurality of article receiving pockets in said disc, said pockets being generally shaped to the configuration of the article to be printed, an article retaining structure associated with said disc adapted to provide in conjunction with said disc a hopper to hold the articles to be printed, said retaining structure having an upstanding wall portion immediately adjacent the periphery of said disc outwardly thereof and an inwardly extending floor portion positioned below said disc adapted to provide support for articles positioned in said pockets, printing apparatus disposed in the path of articles carried in said pockets for applying indicia to the articles carried by said disc, and means to rotate said disc to advance articles positioned in said disc pockets past said printing apparatus for applying indicia to the articles in a printing operation.

No references cited. 

1. APPARATUS FOR PLACING INDICIA ON SMALL ARTICLES AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED IN A PRINTING OPERATING COMPRISING A DISC MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF THE DISC, A PLURALITY OF OUTWARDLY OPENING ARTICLE RECEIVING POCKETS IN THE PERIPHERY OF SAID DISC, SAID POCKETS BEING GENERALLY SHAPED TO THE CONFIGURATION OF THE ARTICLE TO BE PRINTED SO THAT THE SURFACE OF THE ARTICLES TO BE PRINTED, WHEN DISPOSED IN SAID POCKETS, ARE PARALLEL TO THE SURFACE OF SAID DISC, AN ARTICLE RETAINING STRUCTURE SURROUNDING SAID DISC ADAPTED TO PROVIDE IN CONJUNCTION WITH SAID DISC A HOPPER FOR HOLDING THE ARTICLES TO BE PRINTED, SAID RETAINING STRUCTURE HAVING AN UPSTANDING CYLINDRICAL WALL PORTION IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT THE PERIPHERY OF SAID DISC OUTWARDLY THEREOF AND AN INWARDLY EXTENDING FLOOR PORTION POSITIONED BELOW SAID DISC ADAPTED TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES POSITIONED IN SAID POCKETS, AN APERTURE IN SAID FLOOR PORTION THROUGH WHICH SAID ARTICLES FALL FROM SAID POCKETS, PRINTING APPARATUS DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID APERTURE FOR APPLYING INDICIA TO THE ARTICLES CARRIED BY SAID DISC, AND MEANS TO ROTATE SAID DISC TO ADVANCE ARTICLES POSITIONED IN SAID DISC POCKETS PAST SAID PRINTING APPARATUS TO HAVE AN INDICIUM PLACED THEREON IN A PRINTING OPERATION, SAID PRINTED ARTICLE BEING EJECTED THROUGH SAID APERTURE AFTER THE PRINTING OPERATION IS COMPLETED. 